The Mushi-shi's Apprentice
by MaddHatta21
Summary: A young woman named Mahiko embarks on a journey, a journey that leads to many discoveries, both about herself and others.
1. An Unknown Mushi

"Ginko-san!"

The mushi-shi stopped on his trek out of the little valley village to peer over his shoulder at his young female apprentice.

He raised a eyebrow as she approached him with cupped hands.

"Look this one seems nice! I found it crawling on my pack!"

Ginko sighed, "Didn't I tell you not to pick up mushi you've never seen before?"

The girl gave him a sheepish grin, "Well, yeah, but I didn't want it to get into our supplies. What if it multiplies, or eats all our rations?"

Ginko twitched, pulling out a jar and holding it out to his apprentice, "here, put it in here."

The girl, Mahiko, did so, mindful of the tiny worm like creature and it's unknown abilities.

Ginko closed the jar, placed it into his pack and then began the long trek out of the village once again.

"Don't touch mushi you've never seen before."

"Aye aye captain!"

Ginko twitched again, then sighed.

"Where are we headed anyway?"

The Mushi-shi pulled out another cigarette, clamping it gently between his teeth as he searched for his matches.

"Yokihama. There's a family there with a mushi problem."

"Looking for this?" The young woman held up his matchbook.

Ginko twitched once again, "Hand it over."

She grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "oh I dunno, not having matches could be the perfect chance to quit."

"I have matches, they're just in the hands of a madwoman."

Mahiko huffed, "I'm not sure I want to hand them over after that comment..."

"Mahiko..."

The girl's expression turned into a pout at the exasperated sound of Ginko's voice.

She handed them over, "Fine, but you gotta tell me what's up with the mushi I found."

Ginko lit his cigarette, "I'll look at it later."

* * *

The trek through brambles and brush soon became a long trek through a mountainous forest.

Mahiko could see the life river out of the corner of her eye, but Ginko had already told her not to stare at it for long periods of time.

Still, she had to fight the urge to at least glance at it every now and again.

The light from the river made it a little easier to see in the now darkened forest, and Mahiko alternated her gaze between her master's back and what little bit of sky she could see through the canopy of leaves above her.

Finally, Ginko stopped in a clearing and Mahiko set to work helping him build a small fire and laying out bedrolls.

They kept the river of life to their backs, much to Mahiko's disappointment.

"Here."

Mahiko's attention was drawn back to Ginko, who was holding out a piece of dried meat.

She took it.

"That's all the meat we have left, we'll have to stop in the next village and pick some up."

Mahiko nodded, pulling out her water pouch and taking a few sips to wash down the meat.

"So about my mushi..."


	2. An Angel of Death Appears

Mahiko tromped through the forest, a jar in her hand full of worm like mushi. She couldn't figure out how they were multiplying so quickly.

She had no idea how long they had been walking and the deeper they got into the forest the darker their surroundings became. She imagined it must be sometime after nightfall.

Ginko walked ahead of her, probably lost in his own thoughts as well.

Suddenly on the wings of a breeze, came the smell of something dead.

Mahiko, wrinkled her nose at the scent.

_Smells like a rotting animal or something..._

Mahiko suddenly found herself unable to move. She heard Ginko stop a few meters ahead as well, and suddenly terror shot through her veins, it felt as if something very menacing had set its eyes upon her.

"Awww, it's just a couple of humans... I guess I'll let you go then."

The voice came from her left, and Mahiko felt the sensation of being watched slip away as her body began to relax.

The smell vanished as well, Mahiko sunk to the ground.

"Hey," Ginko's voice reached her ears, "are you alright?"

Mahiko took a moment to answer, "Yeah, I think so. What about you?"

"I'm fine."

"There's no way that could have been a normal human right?"

"Who knows?"

"Well I vote we get away from here before he comes back..."

* * *

Mahiko could see the village up ahead, after a terrifying night spent out in the forest with a weirdo on the loose she was more than glad to see a place with a human population.

Ginko led the way.

"I don't think I've ever been so glad to see a village in my life!" Mahiko said with a yawn.

"Last night made me tired," Ginko said.

"Me too, I spent the whole night jumping at every little twig snap and bird call."

Mahiko's stomach growled, right around the time Ginko started making his way towards a nearby merchant, "Do you have any dried meats?"

"No, I'm sorry, there just hasn't been any game in these parts recently."

Mahiko pointed to a young boy on the outskirts of the brush, "He has meat..."

"Yes," the merchant said, "but I wouldn't buy it, all that's boy's meat is rotten."

Ginko approached it, with Mahiko close behind, munching on a piece of bread she bought from the merchant.

"Don't you have anything fresh?" Ginko asked the kid.

"Yeah, at home."

"Do you think you could share a bit with us?"

The kid got to his feet, picking up his things, "Sure, follow me."

Mahiko and inko followed the child into the forest, with a groan from Mahiko and a muttered, "I really don't like this forest..."

As if the memory of the previous night wasn't enough, Mahiko began to smell the sickly sweet scent of rotting meat as they followed the boy deeper into the forest.

She began to feel extremely uneasy.

The child led them to a house, where the stench intensified.

"Hey Tatsu! That catch you made this morning, do you have any left?"

"Yeah, but who wants it? That's unusual."

Mahiko tugged on Ginko's sleeve, gaining his attention, "I don't like this..." she whispered, "it has DANGER written all over it..."

A man came to the door, "Hello! You must be travelers! Come on in! If you see something you like take it!"

Mahiko took a step back and to the side, putting herself partially behind Ginko.

The mushi-shi's face became deadly serious, "You were hunting on th mountain last night?"

"Yeah, I just got back this morning."

Mahiko hesitantly followed Ginko into the little house, "So that meat's been exposed to the sun for awhile?"

Mahiko froze, _is he CRAZY?! This guy is obviously the scary person from last night! Is he trying to piss him off?!_

Mahiko opened her mouth to stop Ginko, but the man, apparently called Tatsu, spoke up.

"You're saying that our meat is rotten too? Do you see any rot on the meat? I don't smell anything! Right Usuke?"

The small boy from before nodded.

Tatsu continued, "How about I go out and get some fresh meat right now, you can't complain about it being rotten if I go right now and kill something."

Ginko and Mahiko watched as the man walked towards the door, "It's no problem, I'll be back before you even realize I was gone! Just wait here for a little while alright?"

The second the man was out of sight Mahiko tried to tug Ginko towards the front door, "Come on Master let's get out of here before he comes back!"

It seemed Ginko had other plans, as he pulled his arm out of her grasp.

"Go back to the village and wait for me there."

Mahiko stopped, stunned at the words, "You're kidding right? You're going after him?"

Ginko started off in the direction that Tatsu had gone moments before.

Mahiko frowned, debating, she really didn't want to go after Tatsu, she didn't want the mushi master going after him either. There was something off about Tatsu and she didn't like it one bit, but Mahiko was nothing if not loyal, and where Ginko went she went.

So, despite the orders given to her, Mahiko took a deep breath and ran to catch up with Ginko.


End file.
